Went back to Cabo San Lucas for a week. We stayed at the RIU Santa Fe (All Inclusive), which is a 30 minute walk from the Marina along the beach. Great place to stay. RIU Website: http://www.riu.com/en/Paises/mexico/los-cabos/hotel-riu-santa-fe/index.jsp?utm_source=yahoobing&utm_medium=PPC&utm_content=CaboSanLucas&utm_campaign=Properties&src=tig_us_ppc_cabosanlucas_yahoobing_brand_properties_santafe_exact&mkwid=eNKms5WTA&pcrid=1328062380&pmt=e&pkw=riu%20santa%20fe. There were eleven in our group, and we all enjoyed the resort. It's a $60.00 (US) taxi ride from the airport to the resort. Or, if you're smart, you can book round trip transportation ($35.00 Round trip) from the airport to the hotel through Transcabo (Website: http://www.transcabo.com/ ). A third option is to take public transportation by catching the SuburCabos bus at the entrance of the airport, next to a gravel area. This bus is a traditional “bus size” and is usually green. Pay the attendant 30 pesos. This bus will stop many times through San Jose del Cabo and on to Cabo San Lucas. The final drop off is the Puerto Paraiso Mall. Expect the ride to take about 90 minutes. Note that return busses usually say “Aeropuerto” on the windshield. Allow two hours for the return trip. Once at the resort, you can take the local buses, which stop in front of the hotel every five minutes into town for $1.00. Once in town, we visited a number of establishments during our daily trips. We tried the Crazy Lobster by Ponchos where you can get steak and lobster dinners for $140 pesos which is less than $12.00 (US). We loved the food and the atmosphere but there are a couple of Crazy Lobsters so make sure you go to the one by Ponchos. Ponchos is a tequila bar down town. Gardenias is a great place to go for authentic Mexican tacos. Inexpensive and truly authentic. For marina eating, Solomons Landing and Captain Tony's are two great places to eat. Solomos has also wonderful breakfasts at good prices. On the beach The Office is a must hit spot. Good food and the center of the best beach in Cabo. its next to Mango Deck and Billygans. Mango Deck and Billygans have the best day time activities. They have lounge chairs on the beach, cheap food and booze and get the crowd involved in games, some more suitable for adults than others but nevertheless a good time. Also stop by La Esquina for great food and drinks. Its near Medano beach as well. There is one last place that we loved, and its called Baja Brewery. It sits on the roof of Cabo Villas hotel. It's a little hike to the top, but it has a killer view of the bay and wonderful beer and food. Cabo is a fun place to visit.
Mark Roemer - December 2013:
I decided to take my first non-rev trip as a Scout to sunny Mexico and San Jose del Cabo for a two-day trip. Wiki Website info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Jos%C3%A9_del_Cabo . Before leaving on our trip we took advantage of Mike Summers' advice above and booked our ground transportation through Trans Cabo (Website: http://www.transcabo.com ). You must book through them at least 24 hours before you're arrival day -- check their requirements. Once you exit the terminal, find the agent in the Trans Baja Orange Shirt (among all of the other Apple Vacation, Car Rental, and Limo Agents). They're very efficient and polite. They'll confirm your return pick up time and trip. We decided to visit San Jose instead of the touristy Cabo San Lucas. Our hotel, the Tropicana Inn, is located about nine miles from the airport near the town square (Tropicana Inn Website: http://hoteltropicana.com/tropicana_los_cabos/index.php#home ). The rooms were clean; the beds were comfortable. The rooms included TV and a refrigerator. While we were there the swim-up bar was not open, but our room (where we stored our adult beverages) was directly next to the pool. OXXO stores are like the 7-11's of Mexico. You can buy reasonable adult beverages here and take them to your room's refrigerator. One was located about six blocks from our hotel. Near our hotel there were numerous restaurants and art galleries (San Jose Map: http://www.loscabosguide.com/maps/sanjosedelcabo-downtown.htm ). Free Wi-Fi is available in many places. We had lunch at Shooters Sports Bar. We headed upstairs to their roof-top deck (Website: http://shootersbar.com.mx/ ) where we had 15 Peso ($1.15 US) beers and an appetizer of nachos; there is a nice view of the main square. After a relaxing afternoon at our hotel's pool, we headed out to the Baja Brewing Company (Web Information: http://sanjosedelcaboguide.com/bajabrewing/index.html ) for beer and pizza. There's a variety of restaurants & nightlife in town (Websites: http://allaboutsanjosedelcabo.com/dining/nightlife/ and http://allaboutsanjosedelcabo.com/dining/restaurants/ ) that you can sample. We tried The View restaurant which is located southeast of the Cathedral and across from the town square. It's located on the second floor with a large roof-top deck and numerous vertical fire pits (View Website: https://www.facebook.com/TheViewRestaurantBarGallery?ref=hl ). Our Tropicana Hotel's Restaurant was also a beehive of evening activity. Another interesting restaurant was the Baan Thai Restaurant (Website: http://bajabaanthai.com/ ) with its Thai and Pan Asian cuisine. You can also take some time and visit the many art galleries located near and around the town square (Art District Website: http://artcabo.com/category/maps/ ). There is a lot of interesting art to see. Overall, we had a great experience on our visit to San Jose del Cabo. Go check it out. Mike Summers - July 2014:
My wife and I and some friends of ours headed back to Cabo for a mid-summer trip. We decided to stay in San Jose del Cabo instead of heading to Cabo San Lucas. We did some research and discovered that all-inclusive hotels were costing around $100 per night per person (about $200 per night per couple). The all-inclusive hotels are on the beach along the southern end of San Jose. We found a Hyatt Place Hotel on Hotels.com for $64 per night. It was located across the street from the beach (about a 300 yard walk) and along the same street as the all-inclusive hotels. The Hyatt Place (Website: http://loscabos.place.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html ) opened in December 2013. Our rate included free Wi-Fi and a free breakfast each morning. The rooms were spacious and comfortable with flat screen TV's and in-room refrigerators. The Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos All-Inclusive is also down the street. The hotel breakfast was top-notch. Scrambled eggs, potatoes, refried beans, hotcakes, cereal, fruit, etc., was available each day. You could also have the cook prepare omelets or other egg specialties for you. Here's a map of San Jose where you can find the airport near the top of the map and the Mega Grocery Store (Map: http://www.loscabosguide.com/maps/sanjosedelcabo.htm ) near the bottom left of the map next to where our hotel is located. We could take a 3-5 minute walk to the Mega Grocery Store which even stocked beer, wine, and liquor. We purchased cans of beer, bottles of Barefoot wine (screw cap), plastic cups, and snacks for use pool side at our hotel. We used our room's refrigerator to keep our beverages cool and the ice bucket to transport them to the pool. There is also a Starbucks and a McDonald's next to the Mega Store. For lunch each day, we visited a couple of nearby restaurants. One was Cynthia Fresh Organic which had a great variety of food (Website: http://loscabosguide.com/cynthia-fresh/index.html and http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g152516-d1214515-Reviews-Cynthia_Fresh_Restaurant_and_Organic_Market-San_Jose_del_Cabo_Los_Cabos_Baja_Cali.html ); the second was CJ's Deli (Website: http://www.nydelicabo.com/ ) that quite literally had a happy hour from 2:00 - 3:00 pm each day. The third restaurant was Villa Valentina, which was between our hotel and the Mega Store. We could see it from our pool (Website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Villa-Valentina-Restaurante/172510342797934?sk=info ). I would easily recommend all three. Just south outside our hotel along the Paseo San Jose is the local bus stop. For $1.00 each you can ride the bus to the town square and the Arts District. The Art District (Websites: http://www.sanjosedelcaboguide.com/artdistrict/index.html and http://www.loscabosguide.com/artdistrictcabo/index.html ) is quite extensive. After visiting a variety of shops we looked at the many restaurant choices for dinner: Baan Thai (Website: http://www.loscabosguide.com/baanthai/index.html ), Baja Brewing Company (Website: http://www.loscabosguide.com/bajabrewingcompany/index.html ), Jazmin's Mexican (Website: http://www.loscabosguide.com/jazminsrestaurant/index.html ), La Dolce Italian (Website: http://www.loscabosguide.com/ladolcerestaurant/index.html ), Mi Casa Mexican (Website: http://www.micasarestaurant.com.mx/ ), and the View (Website: https://www.facebook.com/TheViewRestaurantBarGallery?ref=hl ) were all excellent choices. Because of the size of the meals we found it best to split plates each night. A cab back to our hotel from the Arts District was $7.00 US one way. Also about a 1/2 mile from our hotel along the Paseo San Jose is the Rock and Brews Restaurant opened by Gene Simmons of KISS (Website: http://www.rockandbrews.com/loscabos/ ). We didn't try it, but it seemed popular. Another favorite of ours was Zippers (Website: http://www.loscabosguide.com/zippers/index.html ), which was located on the water's edge about two miles west of our hotel. To get there you can catch a cab, but we took the bus. To catch the bus we walked to the Mega, crossed the main highway (Highway 1) just west of the traffic circle, and waited for a bus. We told the driver to drop us off at Zippers at Kilometer 28.5 (about dos kilometers). Once dropped off we crossed the highway and walked down a dusty driveway to the restaurant. To get back we walked east past the bridge to a bus stop, waited ten minutes, caught the bus back to the Mega and our hotel. We enjoyed Zippers so much, we went back for a second night.
So, we saved some money by not doing an all-inclusive, and we got to taste the local cuisine and had some adventures. We thought it was a very successful and enjoyable trip. Mexico is a lot of fun. Make sure you bring a lot of $1.00 bills and $5.00 bills. Then you don't need to go to a money exchange. If you want you can download a Pesos to Dollars app on your phone. Don't be afraid to ask the waiter what their exchange rate is. On our trip it varied from 11.65 to 12.85. If you have a calculator on your phone, you can figure out what you owe in dollars, and what a reasonable tip would be to leave behind. You'll save a lot of money that way.
Susan Roseveare - January 2015:
Just 35 miles northeast of San Jose del Cabo is Palapas Ventana (Website: http://www.palapasventana.com/ ). Rent a car at the airport from Budget in Los Cabo and get a 5th day free when you pay for 4 by giving them the promotional code "palapas" click link for website.
I recently got back from a 4 day stay at Palapas Ventana and this was my 2nd visit to this all-encompassing hotel/restaurant/grill/bar. This isn't a place to stay if you want to be pampered. It's more of a rustic experience although it does have a few modern amenities that make it more comfortable, i.e., Wi-Fi. This is a place to stay if you're an active, friendly person who enjoys being outdoors and meeting new and interesting people. This place has it all: whale watching, spear fishing, scuba diving, kite surfing and kite boarding, snorkeling, lessons for all, and trips all over Baja Sur. These activities aren't just advertised here because the area is amazing for it. Unlike the neighboring resorts, you could literally bring no equipment with you and they'll have everything you need to participate in all of the activities I listed above (and more), including boats!
The casitas are beautiful and well maintained. You can either get a room with it's own bathroom/shower or you can pay less and have a room with a communal shower. I've used both and have no complaints. Each one has an amazing view and there's nothing like waking up to the sunrise in your eyes every morning.
I can't explain well enough here in this comment about the staff. I was going to shout-out individual props to each employee but I just can't name them all. Every single one is above and beyond any expectation that I may have had! The rooms were well kempt, all the boats and cars were functional, everyone was so helpful, and the food was incredibly delicious!
The town is nice and the people very friendly. There are waterfalls, cave paintings, the hot springs in the North, tiny grocery stores, restaurants, bars, and more. You won't be gouged at every corner or have to deal with salespeople that only want your money. This place is secluded but easy enough to get to. Even though a hurricane just blew over and caused a lot of damage, the roads are decent (mostly paved) and it's hard to get lost. Check out the website link above and give it a try!
Cabo San Lucas Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Cabo_San_Lucas
Baja California Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Baja_California
Todos Santos Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Todos_Santos
La Paz Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/La_Paz_(Mexico)
San Jose del Cabo Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/San_Jos%C3%A9_del_Cabo
Mike Summers - February 2012:
Four of us Scouts did a last minute four-day trip to Cabo San Lucas -- we're glad we did. Once you land at Los Cabos International Airport, you have two main choices, you can visit the town of San Jose del Cabo or the town of Cabo San Lucas. Website with map and Baja California information: http://www.bajainsider.com/baja-maps/baja-california-map.htm . We chose Cabo San Lucas and rented a car. All the major rental car agencies have counters near the airport (with a shuttle ride). Our car was mid-size and cost with a fuel fill-up and three days rental: $120.00. They have smaller cars that are cheaper, but they are very small. Here's some information about the airport:
http://sjdloscabosairport.com/ and transfer to Cabo San Lucas if you don't want to rent a car http://transbaja.com/ . We booked the Hotel Finisterra in Cabo San Lucas at $104.00 per night per room through Expedia (Hotel Finisterra Website: http://www.finisterra.com/htdocs/index.html ). There were many good things about this hotel. One is the location, which was on the beach in a great location near the marina. It's close to everything. The rooms are about 700 sq. ft. and all face the ocean. This is not an all-inclusive, and you really don't need one because great food is a minimum 5 minute walk away. The hotel was clean. It has three large pools and many hot tubs. Parking is free and covered. Here's some websites about Cabo San Lucas: http://www.allaboutcabo.com/ and
http://wikitravel.org/en/Cabo_San_Lucas . Here's a map of the city, which you'll definitely want to print before you go:
http://loscabosguide.com/maps/cslmap.htm . If you decide to visit the Hotel Finisterra, look at the very bottom of the map where there are five resorts along the beach. To get to the Finisterra, make a right turn just before El Galeon Italian Restaurant (#31 on map) on Cabo San Lucas Avenue which becomes Boulevard Marina. Around the Marina there are many bars with reasonable prices. We visited two local places that are a few blocks from the Marina, but the food was outstanding and the prices were even better. If you want the best tacos that you've ever tasted, go to El Gordolele. It's on Metamoros Street next to Los Milagros Hotel between Cardenas Avenue and Ninos Heroes Street. The owner is quite a Beatle's fan as you'll see by the You Tube video that is attached after the Trip Advisor Review:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g152515-d939670-Reviews-Gordo_Lele_s_Tacos_Tortas-Cabo_San_Lucas_Los_Cabos_Baja_California.html and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh96mwdA8R8. The second restaurant was the Crazy Lobster which is on the corner of Hildalgo and Zapata Streets. Here's some websites:
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2804479-the_crazy_lobster_cabo_san_lucas-i and
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g152515-d1218355-r101022248-The_Crazy_Lobster_Bar_Grill-Cabo_San_Lucas_Los_Cabos_Baja_California.html and http://www.loscabosguide.com/crazylobster.htm .We each had a different meal, and they were all good! The third restaurant that we liked was the Baja Brewing Company. We visited two sites, but the rooftop restaurant was the best (Websites: http://www.loscabosguide.com/bajabrewingcompany/index.html and location of rooftop Baja Brewing Company near the beach at Cabo Villas Beach Resort: http://www.cabovillasbeachresort.com/#seccion ). A great place for breakfast and lunch was the Mango Deck, which is right along the water (Websites: http://www.mangodeckcabo.com/ and
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g152515-d1032686-Reviews-Mango_Deck-Cabo_San_Lucas_Los_Cabos_Baja_California.html ) It's more of a spring break atmosphere, but a lot of fun. On one of our mornings we took about a 45 minute drive north of Cabo San Lucas to the artsy town of Todos Santos (Websites: http://www.todossantos.cc/ and http://todossantos.com/ ). We had breakfast at the Hotel Casa Tota (Website: http://hotelcasatota.com/ ). The restaurant is called La Santena. Excellent food at a quaint botique hotel; all prices are in Pesos not US Dollars! Nearby is the Hotel California (Website: http://hotelcaliforniabaja.com/ and
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g150777-d152678-Reviews-Hotel_California-Todos_Santos_Baja_California.html ), which is as nice as Hotel Casa Tota. We had an adult beverage in the courtyard. Be careful of the bathroom doors -- you might enter the wrong one! Asi & Asado (Website: http://www.asiyasado.com/en/ ) is on Highway 1 between the Costco and RIU Santa Fe. It has great Tacos and Chicken Turn Overs. Back in Cabo San Lucas, we decided to avoid the sunset party boat (Website: http://www.cabosanlucastours.net/Sunset-Cruise.htm ) and hire a local glassbottom boat to take us out to the arch. We paid him $40.00 for an hour boat ride around Los Arcos (Pictures:
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=my-myy-s&va=los+arcos+cabo+san+lucas and
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g152515-d1026400-Reviews-Los_Arcos-Cabo_San_Lucas_Los_Cabos_Baja_California.html ) and saw plenty of sites including seals and dolphins. It's a must see when in Cabo. English is easy to use in Cabo. We used US Dollars to pay for most things. Some places give change in US, but most give change in Pesos. The exchange rate was $1.00 = 12 pesos when we were there.
Cabo San Lucas is probably the safest, nicest place to visit in Mexico. Enjoy!
Mike Summers
Mike Summers - April 2013:
Went back to Cabo San Lucas for a week. We stayed at the RIU Santa Fe (All Inclusive), which is a 30 minute walk from the Marina along the beach. Great place to stay. RIU Website:
http://www.riu.com/en/Paises/mexico/los-cabos/hotel-riu-santa-fe/index.jsp?utm_source=yahoobing&utm_medium=PPC&utm_content=CaboSanLucas&utm_campaign=Properties&src=tig_us_ppc_cabosanlucas_yahoobing_brand_properties_santafe_exact&mkwid=eNKms5WTA&pcrid=1328062380&pmt=e&pkw=riu%20santa%20fe. There were eleven in our group, and we all enjoyed the resort. It's a $60.00 (US) taxi ride from the airport to the resort. Or, if you're smart, you can book round trip transportation ($35.00 Round trip) from the airport to the hotel through Transcabo (Website: http://www.transcabo.com/ ). A third option is to take public transportation by catching the SuburCabos bus at the entrance of the airport, next to a gravel area. This bus is a traditional “bus size” and is usually green. Pay the attendant 30 pesos. This bus will stop many times through San Jose del Cabo and on to Cabo San Lucas. The final drop off is the Puerto Paraiso Mall. Expect the ride to take about 90 minutes. Note that return busses usually say “Aeropuerto” on the windshield. Allow two hours for the return trip. Once at the resort, you can take the local buses, which stop in front of the hotel every five minutes into town for $1.00. Once in town, we visited a number of establishments during our daily trips. We tried the Crazy Lobster by Ponchos where you can get steak and lobster dinners for $140 pesos which is less than $12.00 (US). We loved the food and the atmosphere but there are a couple of Crazy Lobsters so make sure you go to the one by Ponchos. Ponchos is a tequila bar down town. Gardenias is a great place to go for authentic Mexican tacos. Inexpensive and truly authentic. For marina eating, Solomons Landing and Captain Tony's are two great places to eat. Solomos has also wonderful breakfasts at good prices. On the beach The Office is a must hit spot. Good food and the center of the best beach in Cabo. its next to Mango Deck and Billygans. Mango Deck and Billygans have the best day time activities. They have lounge chairs on the beach, cheap food and booze and get the crowd involved in games, some more suitable for adults than others but nevertheless a good time. Also stop by La Esquina for great food and drinks. Its near Medano beach as well. There is one last place that we loved, and its called Baja Brewery. It sits on the roof of Cabo Villas hotel. It's a little hike to the top, but it has a killer view of the bay and wonderful beer and food. Cabo is a fun place to visit.
Mark Roemer - December 2013:
I decided to take my first non-rev trip as a Scout to sunny Mexico and San Jose del Cabo for a two-day trip. Wiki Website info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Jos%C3%A9_del_Cabo . Before leaving on our trip we took advantage of Mike Summers' advice above and booked our ground transportation through Trans Cabo (Website: http://www.transcabo.com ). You must book through them at least 24 hours before you're arrival day -- check their requirements. Once you exit the terminal, find the agent in the Trans Baja Orange Shirt (among all of the other Apple Vacation, Car Rental, and Limo Agents). They're very efficient and polite. They'll confirm your return pick up time and trip. We decided to visit San Jose instead of the touristy Cabo San Lucas. Our hotel, the Tropicana Inn, is located about nine miles from the airport near the town square (Tropicana Inn Website: http://hoteltropicana.com/tropicana_los_cabos/index.php#home ). The rooms were clean; the beds were comfortable. The rooms included TV and a refrigerator. While we were there the swim-up bar was not open, but our room (where we stored our adult beverages) was directly next to the pool. OXXO stores are like the 7-11's of Mexico. You can buy reasonable adult beverages here and take them to your room's refrigerator. One was located about six blocks from our hotel. Near our hotel there were numerous restaurants and art galleries (San Jose Map: http://www.loscabosguide.com/maps/sanjosedelcabo-downtown.htm ). Free Wi-Fi is available in many places. We had lunch at Shooters Sports Bar. We headed upstairs to their roof-top deck (Website: http://shootersbar.com.mx/ ) where we had 15 Peso ($1.15 US) beers and an appetizer of nachos; there is a nice view of the main square. After a relaxing afternoon at our hotel's pool, we headed out to the Baja Brewing Company (Web Information: http://sanjosedelcaboguide.com/bajabrewing/index.html ) for beer and pizza. There's a variety of restaurants & nightlife in town (Websites: http://allaboutsanjosedelcabo.com/dining/nightlife/ and http://allaboutsanjosedelcabo.com/dining/restaurants/ ) that you can sample. We tried The View restaurant which is located southeast of the Cathedral and across from the town square. It's located on the second floor with a large roof-top deck and numerous vertical fire pits (View Website: https://www.facebook.com/TheViewRestaurantBarGallery?ref=hl ). Our Tropicana Hotel's Restaurant was also a beehive of evening activity. Another interesting restaurant was the Baan Thai Restaurant (Website: http://bajabaanthai.com/ ) with its Thai and Pan Asian cuisine. You can also take some time and visit the many art galleries located near and around the town square (Art District Website: http://artcabo.com/category/maps/ ). There is a lot of interesting art to see. Overall, we had a great experience on our visit to San Jose del Cabo. Go check it out.
Mike Summers - July 2014:
My wife and I and some friends of ours headed back to Cabo for a mid-summer trip. We decided to stay in San Jose del Cabo instead of heading to Cabo San Lucas. We did some research and discovered that all-inclusive hotels were costing around $100 per night per person (about $200 per night per couple). The all-inclusive hotels are on the beach along the southern end of San Jose. We found a Hyatt Place Hotel on Hotels.com for $64 per night. It was located across the street from the beach (about a 300 yard walk) and along the same street as the all-inclusive hotels. The Hyatt Place (Website: http://loscabos.place.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html ) opened in December 2013. Our rate included free Wi-Fi and a free breakfast each morning. The rooms were spacious and comfortable with flat screen TV's and in-room refrigerators. The Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos All-Inclusive is also down the street. The hotel breakfast was top-notch. Scrambled eggs, potatoes, refried beans, hotcakes, cereal, fruit, etc., was available each day. You could also have the cook prepare omelets or other egg specialties for you. Here's a map of San Jose where you can find the airport near the top of the map and the Mega Grocery Store (Map: http://www.loscabosguide.com/maps/sanjosedelcabo.htm ) near the bottom left of the map next to where our hotel is located. We could take a 3-5 minute walk to the Mega Grocery Store which even stocked beer, wine, and liquor. We purchased cans of beer, bottles of Barefoot wine (screw cap), plastic cups, and snacks for use pool side at our hotel. We used our room's refrigerator to keep our beverages cool and the ice bucket to transport them to the pool. There is also a Starbucks and a McDonald's next to the Mega Store. For lunch each day, we visited a couple of nearby restaurants. One was Cynthia Fresh Organic which had a great variety of food (Website: http://loscabosguide.com/cynthia-fresh/index.html and
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g152516-d1214515-Reviews-Cynthia_Fresh_Restaurant_and_Organic_Market-San_Jose_del_Cabo_Los_Cabos_Baja_Cali.html ); the second was CJ's Deli (Website: http://www.nydelicabo.com/ ) that quite literally had a happy hour from 2:00 - 3:00 pm each day. The third restaurant was Villa Valentina, which was between our hotel and the Mega Store. We could see it from our pool (Website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Villa-Valentina-Restaurante/172510342797934?sk=info ). I would easily recommend all three. Just south outside our hotel along the Paseo San Jose is the local bus stop. For $1.00 each you can ride the bus to the town square and the Arts District. The Art District (Websites: http://www.sanjosedelcaboguide.com/artdistrict/index.html and
http://www.loscabosguide.com/artdistrictcabo/index.html ) is quite extensive. After visiting a variety of shops we looked at the many restaurant choices for dinner: Baan Thai (Website: http://www.loscabosguide.com/baanthai/index.html ), Baja Brewing Company (Website:
http://www.loscabosguide.com/bajabrewingcompany/index.html ), Jazmin's Mexican (Website:
http://www.loscabosguide.com/jazminsrestaurant/index.html ), La Dolce Italian (Website:
http://www.loscabosguide.com/ladolcerestaurant/index.html ), Mi Casa Mexican (Website: http://www.micasarestaurant.com.mx/ ), and the View (Website: https://www.facebook.com/TheViewRestaurantBarGallery?ref=hl ) were all excellent choices. Because of the size of the meals we found it best to split plates each night. A cab back to our hotel from the Arts District was $7.00 US one way. Also about a 1/2 mile from our hotel along the Paseo San Jose is the Rock and Brews Restaurant opened by Gene Simmons of KISS (Website: http://www.rockandbrews.com/loscabos/ ). We didn't try it, but it seemed popular. Another favorite of ours was Zippers (Website: http://www.loscabosguide.com/zippers/index.html ), which was located on the water's edge about two miles west of our hotel. To get there you can catch a cab, but we took the bus. To catch the bus we walked to the Mega, crossed the main highway (Highway 1) just west of the traffic circle, and waited for a bus. We told the driver to drop us off at Zippers at Kilometer 28.5 (about dos kilometers). Once dropped off we crossed the highway and walked down a dusty driveway to the restaurant. To get back we walked east past the bridge to a bus stop, waited ten minutes, caught the bus back to the Mega and our hotel. We enjoyed Zippers so much, we went back for a second night.
So, we saved some money by not doing an all-inclusive, and we got to taste the local cuisine and had some adventures. We thought it was a very successful and enjoyable trip. Mexico is a lot of fun. Make sure you bring a lot of $1.00 bills and $5.00 bills. Then you don't need to go to a money exchange. If you want you can download a Pesos to Dollars app on your phone. Don't be afraid to ask the waiter what their exchange rate is. On our trip it varied from 11.65 to 12.85. If you have a calculator on your phone, you can figure out what you owe in dollars, and what a reasonable tip would be to leave behind. You'll save a lot of money that way.
Susan Roseveare - January 2015:
Just 35 miles northeast of San Jose del Cabo is Palapas Ventana (Website: http://www.palapasventana.com/ ). Rent a car at the airport from Budget in Los Cabo and get a 5th day free when you pay for 4 by giving them the promotional code "palapas" click link for website.
I recently got back from a 4 day stay at Palapas Ventana and this was my 2nd visit to this all-encompassing hotel/restaurant/grill/bar. This isn't a place to stay if you want to be pampered. It's more of a rustic experience although it does have a few modern amenities that make it more comfortable, i.e., Wi-Fi. This is a place to stay if you're an active, friendly person who enjoys being outdoors and meeting new and interesting people. This place has it all: whale watching, spear fishing, scuba diving, kite surfing and kite boarding, snorkeling, lessons for all, and trips all over Baja Sur. These activities aren't just advertised here because the area is amazing for it. Unlike the neighboring resorts, you could literally bring no equipment with you and they'll have everything you need to participate in all of the activities I listed above (and more), including boats!
The casitas are beautiful and well maintained. You can either get a room with it's own bathroom/shower or you can pay less and have a room with a communal shower. I've used both and have no complaints. Each one has an amazing view and there's nothing like waking up to the sunrise in your eyes every morning.
I can't explain well enough here in this comment about the staff. I was going to shout-out individual props to each employee but I just can't name them all. Every single one is above and beyond any expectation that I may have had! The rooms were well kempt, all the boats and cars were functional, everyone was so helpful, and the food was incredibly delicious!
The town is nice and the people very friendly. There are waterfalls, cave paintings, the hot springs in the North, tiny grocery stores, restaurants, bars, and more. You won't be gouged at every corner or have to deal with salespeople that only want your money. This place is secluded but easy enough to get to. Even though a hurricane just blew over and caused a lot of damage, the roads are decent (mostly paved) and it's hard to get lost. Check out the website link above and give it a try!